Kama Sutra (Annotated). Richard Francis Burton

sage Gautama. Indra caused her to believe that he was Gautama, and thus enjoyed her. He was cursed by Gautama and subsequently afflicted with a thousand ulcers on his body.), was made to suffer for it. In a like manner the mighty Kichaka*** (*** Kichaka was the brother-in-law of King Virata, with whom the Pandavas had taken refuge for one year. Kichaka was killed by Bhima, who assumed the disguise of Draupadi. For this story the Mahabarata should be referred to.), who tried to seduce Draupadi, and Ravana**** (**** The story of Ravana is told in the Ramayana, which with the Mahabarata form the two great epic poems of the Hindoos; the latter was written by Vyasa, and the former by Valmiki.), who attempted to gain over Sita, were punished for their crimes. These and many others fell by reason of their pleasures.

      Answer.

      This objection cannot be sustained, for pleasures, being as necessary for the existence and well being of the body as food, are consequently equally required. They are, moreover, the results of Dharma and Artha. Pleasures are, therefore, to be followed with moderation and caution. No one refrains from cooking food because there are beggars to ask for it, or from sowing seed because there are deer to destroy the corn when it is grown up.

      Thus a man practising Dharma, Artha and Kama enjoys happiness both in this world and in the world to come. The good perform those actions in which there is no fear as to what is to result from them in the next world, and in which there is no danger to their welfare. Any action which conduces to the practice of Dharma, Artha and Kama together, or of any two, or even one of them, should be performed, but an action which conduces to the practice of one of them at the expense of the remaining two should not be performed.

CHAPTER III.

      ON THE ARTS AND SCIENCES TO BE STUDIED.

      Man should study the Kama Sutra and the arts and sciences subordinate thereto, in addition to the study of the arts and sciences contained in Dharma and Artha. Even young maids should study this Kama Sutra along with its arts and sciences before marriage, and after it they should continue to do so with the consent of their husbands.

      Here some learned men object, and say that females, not being allowed to study any science, should not study the Kama Sutra.

      But Vatsyayana is of opinion that this objection does not hold good, for women already know the practice of Kama Sutra, and that practice is derived from the Kama Shastra, or the science of Kama itself. Moreover, it is not only in this but in many other cases that though the practice of a science is known to all, only a few persons are acquainted with the rules and laws on which the science is based. Thus the Yadnikas or sacrificers, though ignorant of grammar, make use of appropriate words when addressing the different Deities, and do not know how these words are framed. Again, persons do the duties required of them on auspicious days, which are fixed by astrology, though they are not acquainted with the science of astrology. In a like manner riders of horses and elephants train these animals without knowing the science of training animals, but from practice only. And similarly the people of the most distant provinces obey the laws of the kingdom from practice, and because there is a king over them, and without further reason* (* The author wishes to prove that a great many things are done by people from practice and custom, without their being acquainted with the reason of things, or the laws on which they are based, and this is perfectly true.). And from experience we find that some women, such as daughters of princes and their ministers, and public women, are actually versed in the Kama Shastra.

      A female, therefore, should learn the Kama Shastra, or at least a part of it, by studying its practice from some confidential friend. She should study alone in private the sixty-four practices that form a part of the Kama Shastra. Her teacher should be one of the following persons, viz., the daughter of a nurse brought up with her and already married* (* The proviso of being married applies to all the teachers.), or a female friend who can be trusted in everything, or the sister of her mother (i.e., her aunt), or an old female servant, or a female beggar who may have formerly lived in the family, or her own sister, who can always be trusted.

      The following are the arts to be studied, together with the Kama Sutra:—

      1 Singing.

      2 Playing on musical instruments.

      3 Dancing.

      4 Union of dancing, singing, and playing instrumental music.

      5 Writing and drawing.

      6 Tattooing.

      7 Arraying and adorning an idol with rice and flowers.

      8 Spreading and arraying beds or couches of flowers, or flowers upon the ground.

      9 Colouring the teeth, garments, hair, nails, and bodies, i.e., staining, dyeing, colouring and painting the same.

      10 Fixing stained glass into a floor.

      11 The art of making beds, and spreading out carpets and cushions for reclining.

      12 Playing on musical glasses filled with water.

      13 Storing and accumulating water in aqueducts, cisterns and reservoirs.

      14 Picture making, trimming and decorating.

      15 Stringing of rosaries, necklaces, garlands and wreaths.

      16 Binding of turbans and chaplets, and making crests and top-knots of flowers.

      17 Scenic representations. Stage playing.

      18 Art of making ear ornaments.

      19 Art of preparing perfumes and odours.

      20 Proper disposition of jewels and decorations, and adornment in dress.

      21 Magic or sorcery.

      22 Quickness of hand or manual skill.

      23 Culinary art, i.e., cooking and cookery.

      24 Making lemonades, sherbets, acidulated drinks, and spirituous extracts with proper flavour and colour.

      25 Tailor's work and sewing.

      26 Making parrots, flowers, tufts, tassels, bunches, bosses, knobs, &c., out of yarn or thread.

      27 Solution of riddles, enigmas, covert speeches, verbal puzzles and enigmatical questions.

      28 A game, which consisted in repeating verses, and as one person finished, another person had to commence at once, repeating another verse, beginning with the same letter with which the last speaker's verse ended, whoever failed to repeat was considered to have lost, and to be subject to pay a forfeit or stake of some kind.

      29 The art of mimicry or imitation.

      30 Reading, including chanting and intoning.

      31 Study of sentences difficult to pronounce. It is played as a game chiefly by women and children, and consists of a difficult sentence being given, and when repeated quickly, the words are often transposed or badly pronounced.

      32 Practice with sword, single stick, quarter staff, and bow and arrow.

      33 Drawing inferences, reasoning or inferring.

      34 Carpentry, or the work of a carpenter.

      35 Architecture, or the art of building.

      36 Knowledge about gold and silver coins, and jewels and gems.

      37 Chemistry and mineralogy.

      38 Colouring jewels, gems and beads.

      39 Knowledge of mines and quarries.

      40 Gardening; knowledge of treating the diseases of trees and plants, of nourishing them, and determining their ages.

      41 Art of cock fighting, quail fighting and ram fighting.

      42 Art of teaching parrots and starlings to speak.

      43 Art of applying perfumed ointments to the body, and of dressing the hair with unguents and perfumes and braiding it.

      44 The art of understanding writing in cypher, and the writing of words in a peculiar way.

      45 The art of speaking by changing the forms of words. It is of various kinds. Some speak by changing